Netscape MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 6.01 Installation And Setup Manual page 164

Topology Decisions
Each group of end entities interacts with a designated Registration Manager that
processes requests from end entities and sends them to a Certificate Manager. The
Certificate Manager can accept requests from both end entities and Registration
Managers. For example, end entities at the home office might deal directly with the
Certificate Manager, while end entities at a branch office might deal with their own
Registration Manager. Alternatively, the Certificate Manager might be configured
to accept requests only from Registration Managers, thus shielding the CA from
end entities.
A Registration Manager can be installed in one CMS instance and its related
Certificate Manager in another CMS instance. The separate instances can be located
in the same server group, in different server groups on the same machine, or in
different server groups on different machines.
Figure 4-2 shows a Registration Manager and its Certificate Manager in separate
instances on separate machines. All communication between the Certificate
Manager and the Registration Manager takes place over HTTPS.
Figure 4-2
164 Netscape Certificate Management System Installation and Setup Guide • May 2002
Certificate Manager
and Registration Manager in different instances